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USA Today Reporter: Ken Alltucker A bipartisan group of lawmakers is renewing a push to target drug pricing middlemen by forcing some large pharmacy companies to break up parts of their business. It's legislation that'll look familiar to people in Tennessee – a similar bill passed the state legislature and awaits Gov. Bill Lee's signature. CVS Health has threatened to close all 134 of its pharmacy locations in Tennessee because the legislation takes aim at the pharmacy giant'

Tennessee Lookout Author: Hendrell Remus Today’s political climate is defined by soaring polarization, corporate capture and politicians who too often put donors and special interests before the people they serve. I saw it (and lived it) during my four years as Chair of the Tennessee Democratic Party. But the FairRx Act is different. In the face of a fierce corporate pressure campaign, legislators on both sides of the aisle stood up for Tennesseans struggling to afford and ac

Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) sit at the center of America's prescription drug supply chain. The three largest — CVS Caremark, Express Scripts, and OptumRx — process roughly 80 percent of all U.S. prescriptions and are owned by the same parent companies that also own major health insurers and major pharmacy chains. Federal and state lawmakers from both parties have introduced legislation that would require these companies to divest their pharmacy operations. As of this mon

Modern Healthcare Reporter: Noah Tong Key Takeaways The Federal Trade Commission and Express Scripts last month settled allegations the pharmacy benefit manager inflated insulin prices. Pharmacies say Express Scripts responded by worsening their contract terms and demanding more data about their businesses. The settlement is too ambiguous and the FTC needs to hold PBMs accountable, pharmacies contend. The FTC is poised to resolve similar charges against CVS Caremark and Optum

March 16, 2026 Federal Trade Commission Office of the Secretary 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20580 Chairman Ferguson and Commissioners: Pharmacists United for Truth and Transparency submit the following formal comments regarding the proposed Decision and Agreement in Docket No. 9437 against Express Scripts, Inc. (ESI), Evernorth Health, Inc., Medco Health Services, Inc., and Ascent Health Services LLC. We thank the Commission for including provisions that addr

This March legislative madness is in full swing, and PBM Reform legislation at the state level has continued to heat up across the country. Many states have actualized savings within their Medicaid program, and are looking to help expand that success to state employee and commercial plans to help start realizing savings. We are still seeing perennial powerhouses show leadership with reimbursement reform, with a few new faces fighting the opaque “prescription tax” misinformat

Experts say the bipartisan Break Up Big Medicine Act — aimed at breaking up vertically integrated healthcare companies — faces slim chances of passing despite recent PBM reforms. MedCity News Reporter: Marissa Plescia In February, Congress finally took action to rein in PBMs via the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2026. It included reforms like the delinking of PBM compensation from the price of a drug in Medicare Part D and more detailed reporting to plan sponsors. But t

Bill Sponsored by Senators Tom Cotton and Tim Kaine Would Restore Patient Choice, Ban Hidden PBM Fees, and Bring Transparency to TRICARE Pharmacy Benefits WASHINGTON, D.C. (March 18, 2026) — Pharmacists United for Truth and Transparency ( PUTT ) today praised the introduction of the “Rx Access, Choice, Cost Equity, and Supply Stability” Act (Rx ACCESS Act), bipartisan legislation sponsored by U.S. Senators Tom Cotton (R-AR) and Tim Kaine (D-VA) that would strengthen pharmac

Congress passed its most significant changes yet, but implementation and industry maneuvering will determine whether drug prices fall. WP Intelligence Reporter: Rebecca Adams Key Takeaways Congress has cracked open the PBM black box — but the real battle now shifts to implementation. The most significant federal legislation to date targeting pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) aims to restructure how they are paid, increase transparency and curb practices that critics say infla

A collection of recently published state and federal documents has us scratching our heads and asking, “why is it so difficult to enforce certain PBM reform laws?” In the last few weeks we’ve seen: incomplete state audits or audits rendered inconclusive because PBMs didn’t turn over files as directed by state law; or audits revealing what appears to be a complacent attitude toward implementing the state’s PBM reform laws laws barring spread pricing , or below-cost reimb

Duluth News Tribune Author: Andrew Russell, PharmD, PUTT Board Member For many Minnesotans, the local independent pharmacy is the most accessible and consistent point of care in the health system. Whether it's a senior managing multiple chronic conditions, a parent juggling work and caregiving, or a patient in a community where health care options are limited, pharmacies remain anessential lifeline. Yet, behind the counter, independent pharmacies face mounting pressures from

The legislation will impose new restrictions on pharmacy benefit managers, giant companies like CVS Caremark, Optum Rx and Express Scripts that oversee prescription drug benefits. The New York Times Reporters: Reed Abelson and Rebecca Robbins The spending package passed by Congress on Tuesday includes an effort to drive down drug prices, by imposing new restrictions on some of the most controversial practices of the giant companies that oversee prescription benefits. The leg

The following is an excerpt from a white paper we recently published in response to marketing claims made by Blue Cross Blue Shield in Kansas. For a copy of the complete paper, please contact us here : No doubt you’ve heard PCMA and the Big Insurance lobby proclaiming PBM “value” and “savings” in ads, legislative testimony, and opinion articles. Recent federal investigations, including a January 2025 Federal Trade Commission report , reveal that the largest PBMs generated $7

Dispense Times Author: Monique Whitney, PUTT Executive Director For years, small business pharmacies have withstood oppressive PBM anti-competitive practices and other market forces that thave pushed otherwise larger legacy pharmacies to the brink of closure. Still, in 2026 there are fewer independent pharmacies left to serve the growing ranks of patients needing access to affordable medication and care. There are also fewer advocates left to fight for you, your business and

Excessive prescription refilling by mail-order pharmacies leaves piles of unneeded pills; 'Every time, there are 15 extra' The Wall Street Journal Reporters: Christopher Weaver , Tom McGinty , and Anna Wilde Mathews U nitedHealth Group’s pharmacy mailed Medicare recipient Bill Zielinski so many refills of the cholesterol drug atorvastatin that his unused stash could last a year on the pill-a-day regimen his doctor ordered. Excessive refilling is common practice at U.S. mail-

“We have accomplished a feat so rarely seen in Washington. We’ve brought the most extreme democrats and republicans together to agree and work towards the same goal.” – Dr. Nikki Adams-Bryant, Adams Family Pharmacy, Preston GA On Thursday, December 11th, 55 pharmacy professionals from 22 states and the District of Columbia joined Representatives Jake Auchincloss (D-MA), Diana Harshbarger (R-TN), Sanford Bishop (D-GA), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), and House Oversight Chair James Co

December 11, 2025 Washington, DC To learn more about the Pharmacists Fight Back Act and to contact your federal legislator, visit PharmacistsFightBack.org

The Independence Bucks County Author: Dr Marion Mass On January 10, 2024, 22-year-old Cole Schmidtknecht of Appleton, Wisconsin, went to his big-box pharmacy and was told that a preventative asthma inhaler he had relied on for years was no longer covered by his insurer. He would have to pay over $500 for it — out of pocket. Cole left without the inhaler. On January 21, 2024, he died as a consequence of a severe asthma attack. His father, Bil, who had the same insurance provi

Mark your calendars for Thursday, December 11, 10 am ET . That’s when Representatives Jake Auchincloss and Diana Harshbarger, together with some of our profession’s most outspoken advocates, will announce the filing of the Pharmacists Fight Back Act bills in Medicaid/Medicare and the federal employee benefits plan. Following on the heels of Representative Buddy Carter's PBM Reform Act (HR 4317), the Pharmacists Fight Back Act bills are the most comprehensive federal PBM re

Let’s cut straight to it: the most powerful voice in healthcare policy isn’t a lobbyist, a trade association, or a polished talking point crafted in a Washington office. It’s a constituent. A real human being who can look their lawmaker in the eye and say, “Here is what your decisions are doing to my community.” And in pharmacy, that voice is us . The word “lobbying” actually has a colorful history. It traces back to the days when someone would wait in the lobbies of legisla